Elon Musk, a South African-born engineer, inventor and billionaire, is one of the most important entrepreneurs in the world.

Elon Musk，作為南非籍的工程師、發明家和億萬富翁，他是世界上最重要的企業家之一

But the 47-year-old is no stranger to turmoil,

可是這位四十七歲的企業家，對於混亂一點都不陌生

and by his own account

根據他自身的說法

his career has been full of highs and lows.

他的事業並非一路順遂

“Just three years ago,

「不過三年以前，」

I was showering at the Y and sleeping on the office floor.

我在基督教青年會洗澡、睡在辦公室的地板上

And now, obviously I've got a million-dollar car

而如今，顯而易見地，我有一輛價值百萬美金的車子

and quite a few creature comforts.”

衣食也無憂。」

After making a fortune with his first successful startup, Zip2,

從創業成功的第一家新創公司：Zip2 中賺取財富後

Musk gained fame as the co-founder of PayPal in the late 1990s.

Musk 在九零年代末因成為 PayPal 的共同創辦人而出名

“So this is an ATM. What we're going to do is transform the traditional banking industry.”

「這是自動提款機，而我們要做的便是：改變傳統銀行產業。」

The company lost hundreds of millions of dollars,

公司虧損了上億元的美金

and Musk was ousted as CEO because of internal turmoil.

Musk 也因公司內部的混亂，被開除了 CEO 的職位

But when PayPal went public in 2002,

然而，在 2002 年 PayPal 上市

and then was sold to eBay, Musk — as the biggest shareholder — walked away with $200 million.

並拋售給 eBay 之後，Musk 以最大股東的身分，帶走了兩億美元

By the mid-2000s, Musk had turned around and invested almost all of his PayPal fortune into his new companies:

到了大約 2005 年，Musk 幾乎將所有 PayPal 的資金投入到他新成立的公司：

SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity.

SpaceX、特斯拉，和太陽城公司

With SpaceX, Musk's aspiration is out of this world — literally.

從 SpaceX 可以看出，Musk 的抱負就是要超越這個世界 — 即字面上的意思

It's a commercial space flight company,

SpaceX 是一家商業太空公司

which designs and launches advanced rockets into space.

設計、發射前往太空的先進火箭設備

“Behind me is where Falcon 9 would sit during launch.”

「在我身後的是，獵鷹 9 號運載火箭準備發射的地點。」

One of its ambitions is to eventually send people to Mars.

公司其一的雄心壯志，便是最終將人類送上火星

“And I can't think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars.”

「我實在想不到，有比探索宇宙浩瀚、漫遊在群星之中，更令人興奮的事。」

But it has faced some roadblocks.

但事與願違，公司遇到了一些困難

Their first three rocket launches —

最初三次的火箭發射 —

failed, burning through almost all of the company's assets.

皆以失敗收場，這幾乎耗費了所有公司的資產

But SpaceX has had recent successes.

不過 SpaceX 近期有了一些成果

The Falcon Heavy launch earlier this year was a big milestone and it carried an interesting payload:

今年初發射的獵鷹重型運載火箭，是一個重大的里程碑，其裝載的東西很有趣：

a dummy astronaut riding a Tesla car that was orbiting space.

一個開著特斯拉車，並繞著太空運行軌道轉的太空模型假人

The company has also landed contracts with NASA,

此公司也與美國國家航空暨太空總署簽下合約

but questions about safety and cost remain.

不過關於安全和費用的問題，仍存有疑慮

“We sold over 1,000 cars — and by sold

「我們已賣出超過一千台的車，我說的『賣』

I mean people put down a substantial deposit on the car.”

是指人們將實質上的訂金投資在車子上。」

Tesla, Musk's electric car company,

特斯拉，即 Musk 的電動汽車公司

is one of the first of its kind to work on a large scale.

是業界的先驅之一

It has also successfully disrupted the auto industry.

甚至還成功壟斷汽車業

The company is valued at over $50 billion.

公司淨值超過五百億

The Tesla Model S has been called

特斯拉 S 型被稱之為

the greatest car ever built.

史上最棒的車子

But Tesla has also faced some setbacks, including

可是，特斯拉也遭受一些挫折，包含

car batteries that caught on fire, recalls and production delays.

車子的電池會著火、商品的回收與生產延遲

SolarCity, Musk's renewable energy venture,

太陽城，也就是 Musk 的再生能源企業

initially had a bright future.

一開始是有光明的未來的

It's the largest provider of rooftop solar systems in the U.S.,

它是美國最大的屋頂太陽能系統供應商

and the company boomed on Wall Street.

公司也向華爾街快速發展

But after investors raised doubts about its business model,

然而，當投資者對太陽城的商業模式提出質疑時

SolarCity's shares quickly lost value,

它的股份迅速失去了價值

and Tesla had to take over

此時特斯拉必須出手接管

in what was widely seen as a bailout.

這被大眾視為像是「保釋」一樣的行為

“We really need to make solar panels as appealing as electric cars have become.”

「我們要讓太陽能板像電動車一樣吸引人。」

But while Musk may have been flirting with bankruptcy and calamity for years,

當 Musk 可能還在與破產、災難周旋時

his projects continue to captivate the collective imagination.

他的計畫持續吸引著集體的想像力

“Life has to be more than about solving problems.

「人生不能只侷限在解決問題

There have to be things that make you proud to be a member of humanity.”

而是必須擁有讓你身為人類的一員而引以為傲的東西。」